Annapolis city officials and Mayor Gavin Buckley are exploring giving drug users a test kit to check their drugs for fentanyl and other potent opioid derivatives.

Buckley and Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin J. Simmons stressed that the city is in the early planning stages, with Simmons adding he’s been researching it the past two weeks. The mayor said he hasn’t approached city council with the proposal.

But the two said they’ve gotten support from other public safety agencies, including from city police chief Scott Baker and city fire chief David Stokes Sr.

The strips themselves are relatively basic, asking users to take a small amount of their drugs — typically heroin — and place it in a cup of water before they place a small paper strip into the cup to test the drugs.

While there’s no timeline for implementation, concrete plans for funding — the kits typically cost about $1 a piece — nor distribution model to get them into the hands of drug users, Simmons says he wants to see if become a reality so the city can use it as another way to connect addicts to treatment.

“So once they detect the fentanyl, they’re going to do one of many things,” Simmons said. “They’re going to use less of the drug. They’re going to inject it slowly. They might take another route of administration instead of injecting it, they snort it. They may use it in the company of somebody with Narcan.”

“And what’s encouraging to me is that if you’re using fentanyl test strips, then you care about your well-being,” he added. “So you’re more apt to accept counseling. You’re more apt to accept health education. You’re more apt to get into some type of program.”

The effort comes as the city continues to see an increase in heroin overdoses annually, although the rate of fatality has dipped slight from 2017.

According to Annapolis Police Department statistics, the city has seen 113 heroin overdoses as of Oct. 23. Nine of those people have died of a drug overdose, compared to 11 in 2017.

Anne Arundel County has seen 903 reported overdoses as of Oct. 30, according to police statistics, a slight decrease over the same period in 2017.

However, they’ve become increasingly more fatal as the county has seen 149 fatal overdoses this year, only three less than the record set for all of 2017. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office ruled fentanyl was the primary cause of death in 102 of those cases and a heroin/fentanyl mix was responsible for an additional 19 deaths.

But the city has drawn some unusual differences as to the demographics affected by the state’s opioid addiction crisis that has them thinking of new ways to engage the community.

Much has been made about how, nationally, the victims of heroin addiction are largely white males in their 20s and 30s. The narrative has been that whites in economically depressed rural areas are increasingly turning to the drug for a variety of reasons.

However, in Annapolis, older black men are disproportionately the victims of heroin overdoses, according to Annapolis police statistics. Of the 113 heroin overdoses reported in the city as of Oct. 23, 30 affected black men 45 years of age or older.

Removing age also reveals that nearly half of all heroin overdose victims in the city — 53 out of 113 — are black. This is despite the fact they make up a little less than a quarter of the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

It’s why Buckley said his administration is attempting to look at different solutions to reach those neighborhoods, including radio spots on local channels and community outreach in vulnerable communities.

The drug testing idea is likely to get some push back, as while it has been implemented in larger cities like Baltimore and Boston, other municipalities have seen legislators and community members argue the tests would enable user’s habits by removing some of the consequences of their actions.

While Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh has pushed for more addicts to be diverted into treatment rather than prison and has advocated for more treatment options, he has pushed back against the idea of trying to make drugs safer to use.

A campaign spokeswoman directed all questions regarding either fentanyl test kits or a clean needle exchange program back to county spokesman Owen McEvoy, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Steuart Pittman, Schuh’s Democratic opponent in the upcoming general election, wrote in an email that his “instincts tell me that fentanyl strips in particular could save lives” but he would “consult with treatment providers, doctors and researchers” before supporting either a clean needle exchange program or fentanyl test strips on a county level.

“I have read the research on the potential pros and cons of needle exchange and fentanyl strip programs and am disappointed to see neither has show a significant impact,” he wrote in an email. He also wrote “decisions about public health in this county must move out of the political realm and into the scientific.”

A study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy in August found that out of a sample size of 125 drug users, 43 percent said that after using a fentanyl test strip that tested positive for the drug, they changed their drug use behavior by either using less, snorting or injecting slower.

For Buckley, who first announced the idea at a groundbreaking event for a addiction treatment facility, he said he doesn’t agree with those who see this as something that could encourage drug use.

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Surveillance video provided by Anne Arundel County Police shows a Ford F350 pickup truck backing into a 7-Eleven on Defense Highway in Crofton in an attempt to steal an ATM from the store.

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Surveillance video provided by Anne Arundel County Police shows a Ford F350 pickup truck backing into a 7-Eleven on Defense Highway in Crofton in an attempt to steal an ATM from the store.

Surveillance video provided by Anne Arundel County Police shows a Ford F350 pickup truck backing into a 7-Eleven on Defense Highway in Crofton in an attempt to steal an ATM from the store.

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Anne Arundel County officials discuss a $550,000 grant awarded to law enforcement by Gov. Larry Hogan to combat gangs.

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